In general, the cost of purchasing a food item packaged in bulk tends to be much less expensive in terms of price per unit weight than the cost of purchasing a small quantity of the same food item, such as a single serving size. Further, a new industry trend is the discount food chain which offers food items sold only in bulk quantities, but at an even lower cost than that offered in conventional grocery stores.
Many of the food items which are sold in bulk quantities have a prolonged shelf life of several months if they are kept in a sealed container. However, once the container is opened, such items may spoil after one week or less. Thus, although the purchase of food items in bulk quantities provides a financial benefit to larger households, schools, small restaurants and the like, individuals, or households with only a few members are unable to derive any benefit from the lower cost since the food item, once opened, may spoil before the purchaser is able to finish the entire package/container. Such spoilage could be avoided if the bulk quantity of the food item were separated into smaller serving sizes which were each individually sealed.
One example of a package which includes several separately sealed sections is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,856 to Hustad et al. Another example of a food package containing multiple compartments is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,999 to Morton. The Morton package is designed to hold individual quantities of frozen orange juice, which may be individually separated from the remainder of the package. However, neither the Hustad et al nor the Morton multi-container packages are designed to retain a tight seal, yet allow easy opening when desired.